Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Pieter Molinaer (Antwerp 1602 - 1654)
Monogram at the bottom of the horse's leg on the ground: PM
Equestrian Battle
Oil on canvas
79 x 129 cm - framed 98 x 149
Work accompanied by attribution study by Giancarlo Sestieri
The suggestive battle that we are proposing hinges on the equestrian clash of various horsemen, on one side equipped with armour and helmets and on the other with simple headgear; on both sides with the use of firearms.
Sestieri, analysing the work on the basis of exhibition taste and the pictorial specificity of the horsemen and horses in the foreground, also rendered with an abundance of detail in their clothing, circumscribes it to the Flemish ambit of the mid 17th century, in the wake of Sebastian Vrancx, the prestigious leader of this iconographic strand and already in vogue in the Netherlands since the beginning of the 16th century.
By further narrowing the study and analysing the particularities of the type of battle, the horses painted with slender legs and powerful hindquarters enhanced by their soaring postures, it becomes easy to direct attention to a precise name as the author of the painting in question, namely Pieter Meulener (Antwerp 1602 - 1654), an established specialist who, not by chance, had the aforementioned Vrancx as a decisive reference point for his training.
An identification that is fully supported by matching comparisons with various similar works of undoubted authorship, finally finding precise confirmation in the small initials with an ‘M’ surmounted by a small ‘P’ placed on the leg of the bay horse that has been knocked to the ground.
For the above-mentioned comparisons, please refer firstly to the repertory illustrated in the volume ‘’Pittori di Battaglie. Maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo‘’ (by G.Sestieri, ed. De Luca, Rome 1999, pp. 582-86), which includes some examples from the painter's representative series housed in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
* Defence of a convoy , oil on panel, 52 x 79 cm, signed, h. 1644 [P1565]
* Cavalry Combat , oil on panel, 52 x 79 cm, 1644 [P001566].
* Cavalry Clash , oil on copper plate, 37 x 50 cm, 1649 [P001883].
* Cavalry Clash , oil on panel, 49 x 64 cm, 17th century [P004000].
These works illustrate comparisons of knights typical of his production, sometimes attributed to authors such as Vrancx or even Jacques Courtois.
A qualitative ‘Battle’ of his is preserved in the Narodni Galerie in Prague(https://www.wga.hu/html_m/m/meulener/cavalry1.html). And we can also mention, ‘Cavalry Battle Scene’ (Oil on canvas, 59 x 79 cm
Private also monogrammed ‘’PM‘’ on the left hind leg of the white horse, or the ‘’Cavalry Skirmish‘’ (Christie's 5.7.2013, London. Lot 184:
Delevery information :
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Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
